Aerobic Exercise Can Boost the Aging Mind as Well as
Body Says Research
Helps boost cognitive processing speed, motor
function and visual and auditory attention in healthy older people
April
21, 2008 - Aerobic exercise could give older adults a boost in
brainpower, according to a recent review of studies from the
Netherlands.
“Aerobic physical exercises that improve
cardiovascular fitness also help boost cognitive processing speed, motor
function and visual and auditory attention in healthy older people,”
said lead review author Maaike Angevaren.
Around age 50, even healthy older adults begin to
experience mild declines in cognition, such as occasional memory lapses
and reduced ability to pay attention. Convincing evidence shows that
regular exercise contributes to healthy aging, but could the types of
exercise a person does influence his or her cognitive fitness?
Angevaren and her colleagues at the University of
Applied Sciences, in Utrecht, evaluated 11 randomized controlled trials,
comprising about 670 adults ages 55 and older, which examined the
effects of aerobic exercise on areas of cognition including cognitive
processing speed, memory and attention.
Nine studies took place in the United States; one
occurred in France and another in Sweden.
Aerobic exercise involves continuous, rhythmic
activity that strengthens the heart and lungs and improves respiratory
endurance. In the studies included in this review, participants
exercised aerobically between two and seven days a week for several
weeks — three months on average — and underwent fitness and cognitive
function tests.
The review appears in the latest issue of The
Cochrane Library, a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration, an
international organization that evaluates medical research. Systematic
reviews draw evidence-based conclusions about medical practice after
considering both the content and quality of existing medical trials on a
topic.
What is Aerobic Exercise?
The
American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) defines aerobic
exercise as "any activity that uses large muscle groups, can be
maintained continuously, and is rhythmic in nature." It is a
type of exercise that overloads the heart and lungs and causes
them to work harder than at rest.
The
important idea behind aerobic exercise today, is to get up and
get moving!! There are more activities than ever to choose from,
whether it is a new activity or an old one.
Need
inspiration to start a fitness program? Explore the many
benefits of aerobic exercise, from increased energy and improved
stamina to disease prevention.
Investing 30 minutes a day in aerobic exercise — such as
walking, bicycling or swimming — can help you live longer and
healthier. In fact, aerobic exercise may be the magic bullet
you've been looking for.
Read more at the Mayo Clinic Website…
The Benefits of Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic Exercise Helps To Maintain Higher Heart Rates As Well As
Burn Up Fats And Glucose Read more at
Aerobics-Exercises.com
Not surprisingly, eight of the 11 included studies
found that participation in aerobic exercise programs increased
participants’ VO2 max, an indicator of respiratory endurance, by 14
percent.
Improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness coincided
with improvements in cognitive function - especially motor function,
cognitive speed and auditory and visual attention - when participants
were compared to a group of non-exercising adults or adults in a yoga or
strength program.
So how does sweating to the oldies affect brain
function?
“Improvements in cognition as a result of
improvements in cardiovascular fitness are being explained by
improvements in cerebral blood flow, leading to increased brain
metabolism which, in turn, stimulates the production of
neurotransmitters and formation of new synapses,” Angevaren aid.
“At the same time, improved cardiovascular fitness
could lead to a decline in cardiovascular disease [which is] proven to
negatively affect cognition,” she said.
Despite the positive mental health benefits that
seem to be associated with aerobic activity, researchers could not
confirm that aerobic activity specifically is necessary for cognitive
improvement, Angevaren said.
For example, when researchers left non-exercisers
out of the equation and examined test scores of adults who did any type
of exercise — including aerobic activity, strength training or
flexibility programs — they found no significant differences for nine of
the 11 cognitive functions measured.
“It needs to be established whether the same
effects can be achieved with any type of physical exercise,” including
exercise bouts of greater intensity or longer duration, Angevaren said.
Based on the individual studies and their overall
analysis, the authors have made a clear case in concluding that physical
activities benefit cognitive function in older adults, said Sarah
Laditka, associate professor in the Arnold School of Public Health at
the University of South Carolina. She was not affiliated with the
review.
“At the same time, they pointed out a number of
considerations that readers need to keep in mind,” Laditka said. For
example, in many of the studies, the sample size was small, and the
cognitive tests used to assess participants varied widely from study to
study.
In addition, “it’s clear that the longer-term
effects of aerobic physical activity on cognition are not known and that
needs to be studied,” Laditka said.
However, although relatively few randomized
controlled trials exist that investigate the cognitive affects of
aerobic activity on cognition, “there are an increasing number of
epidemiological studies which indicate very positive benefits of regular
physical activity on cognitive health,” Laditka said.
“The takeaway message to me as a gerontologist is
that increasingly there is an association between physical activity —
broadly defined — and cognitive health. That would speak in favor of
encouraging older people and people of all ages to engage in regular
physical activity,” Laditka said.
Written by Amy Sutton, Contributing Writer,
Health Behavior News Service
The Cochrane Collaboration is an international
nonprofit, independent organization that produces and disseminates
systematic reviews of health care interventions and promotes the search
for evidence in the form of clinical trials and other studies of
interventions. Visit http://www.cochrane.org for more information.
Keep up with the latest news for senior citizens, baby
boomers
April
21, 2008 - Aerobic exercise could give older adults a boost in
brainpower, according to a recent review of studies from the
Netherlands.